Friday, August 19, 2011

Welcome To England

Comment on this Ed West piece (on moral panic - thanks for the hat-tip, Ed) at the Telegraph :

"From time to time I fly to Stockholm from Manchester. On arriving at Arlanda, I'm greeted by giant posters of Stockholmers saying (in English), "Welcome to my town!" On return to Ringway, I'm greeted by posters warning me not to assault airport staff.

A few months ago I flew to Munich for the first time. On arrival I was greeted by a Bluetooth message from BMW, promoting their cars. Returning to Manchester, I was greeted at luggage reclaim by a giant poster offering me a test for chlamydia."

Just seen BBC transmitted footage of a squad of 'rioters' in Birmingham. They threw petrol bombs and shot at police. Eleven shots were fired. They also attacked and robbbed a pub and tried to commit asrson there. They were all masked and hooded. Who is to say there is not a command structure of sorts. We were not told the ethnicity. The Thai or Vietnamese looking landlord just said on camera very clearly and simply and powerfully that he was 'very scared' as he lived upstairs. This is absolutely disgusting. Imagine if a squad of these people descended on Henley and attacked a pub full of the southern middle classes and firebombed the place. Are you telling me the response would be so low key? Disorder, is that what it is? This is war! I am absolutely outraged to the depths of my soul of what the establishment have done to our second city. Are you getting the message security services if you are monitoring blogs? THE ENGLISH ARE VERY, VERY ANGRY.

"We were not told the ethnicity. The Thai or Vietnamese looking landlord just said on camera very clearly and simply and powerfully that he was 'very scared' as he lived upstairs."

The ethnicity of the attackers will in all probability be Afro-Caribbean, anon - given that it is gangsta territory; Lozells, Newtown.

You may recall the Johnson Crew and the Burger Boys and their enthusiasm for sub-machine guns

The landlord is Thai; that's because the Bartons Arms offers Thai food; the brewery is Oakham - which brews splendid beer. The pub really is - and I hope still is - very fine indeed. The City council were also apparently very helpful in the restoration some years ago.

I cannot over emphasise just what a gem this pub is and this leads on to the question of why they should want to destroy it, as opposed to merely loot the pub

Lib-left say it is about class and deprivation; but this is a symbol of Birmingham's working class heritage and culture; very much so in fact.

My reckoning is that they wanted to fire something precious to whitey; that a superior cultural symbol so far above them triggered rage. Certainly it appears to have been an organised assault

Even if they haven't destroyed it I very much doubt that it is sustainable in the middle of a hell-hole

Way things are going it's hard to see the wonderful Black Horse in Northfield, to the sw of the city, lasting 5 years - recently restored this former Davenport's house is a simply splendid example of Cotswold Brewer's Tudor, craftsmen from the Cotswolds were brought up to help build it in the late twenties. It is beautiful.

http://www.qype.co.uk/place/47941-The-Black-Horse-Birmingham

Unfortunately it appears to be much more combustible than the Bartons

There must be a quid pro quo somewhere, but I'm damned if I can see where it is

"Oh well, that's often been the complaint, that immigrants ..." Here he interrupted himself. "They're not even immigrants, are they? They're born English!" Another snort. "I don't really have anything to say to that because it doesn't strike me as particularly relevant."

What does strike him as relevant is what some of the famous Londoners whose lives he has chronicled would have thought of the riots.

"The Black Horse ! Long time no see, a mighty leisure facility of the once well-paid, aspirational working class, pulling down good money at 'The Austin'."

Good money in Northfield is long gone I fear; our people are all but destroyed - that's the truth of it

It's awful; you would be hard put to describe it as first world.

The Black Horse had declined with the area, it became desperate - petty criminals, drug dealers; economics dictate - I'm not a great one for moralising, still less for religion; reminds me too much of the vile Wilberforce - Cobbett is my hero

Be that as it may Weatherspoon's have spent several million on the Black Horse; an excellent restoration.